Size, shape, grind, honing or just me?

Right now, I've got 3 different razors in my rotation, and they all perform VERY differently. Before expanding my rotation, I'm trying to tie the differences in shave to the differences in razors, so I know what I want next. All of them shave well, and when I talk about being grabby or creating irritation, that's only in comparision to the rest of the rotation. They are all perfectly servicable.

So, I'd love feedback on what you guys would get to expand the rotation, or anything I might try to improve the slight issues with the different razors.


Here they are:

6/8 Henckles #14. Full/extra hollow. Square point (eased).

This ones shaves very nicely, very comfortable during the shave, but it also gives me the most post-shave irritation. No bad irritation, just more than the others. On the rare occasion that I over-do it and get some bumps, it's with this razor. Despite the eased point, I still find I have to be careful to keep from knicking myself when your the point to trim around my beard.

5/8 Admirals. 1/2 hollow. Spike point.

This one "grabs" quite a bit compared to the others, but it seems to shave cleanly and leave very little irritation. That seems contradictory to me. Shouldn't a "grabby" razor give either a bad shave or lot's of irritation? However, this one does a great job, I just "feel" the whole shave if that makes sense. Also, this razor has a set of fairly heavy wooden scales.

4/8 Tornblaum (probably spelled that wrong). Frame-back, almost as thin as the henckels. Spanish point.

This one is quite different because it's such a small/light razor. Also, the gent I bought it from had a different idea of "shave ready" than I did, so I had to touch it up a bit agressively on my barber hone before it would shave well. (the bevel was excellent at least) It's such a quick/light blade that it will actually bounce a bit if I'm not carefull. However, as long as I don't try to shave off more than a day of growth, it gives a beautiful shave. It doesn't do so well with a couple of days growth. Also, this is without a doubt, my very best razor for trimming around my beard. I feel that it does a realy great job for trimming, and remains quite comfortable. However, I'm not sure if it's the Spanish point, or the small blade that accomplishes this.




So, there you have it. I'd welcome any feedback.

The next razor you should try is an American made 4/8 "wedge" grind razor.That will be a very stiff grind that hones up easily. The brand/name that comes to mind is a "Spike". If not that then another "wedge", 1/4 hollow, grind of some size. That will give you experience with a full range of grinds and how they shave you.

Just my $.02,:)

I was also thinking about a wedge, and I like the look of the spike razors, but I was also wondering about a larger wedge, rather than smaller. Since I'vegot a 4/8, 5/8 and 6/8, I was thinking about a 7/8 wedge if I could find one I could afford.


The other option, is that I've got a 11/16 Frederick Reynolds faux-frameback that feels very stiff and heavy, but it needs a major clean-up and re-scale before I can shave with it. Wondering if I should focus on that first, or focus on the wedge first.

The razor Randy was talking about is the Union Spike; Union later changed their name to Ka-Bar. They were also made in 5/8 sizes. Good little razor, and as Randy said very easy to hone.

Since you've already got the Reynolds concave grind then that's the obvious next step. You can hone and shave with it before you clean it up if that's what's stopping you. Ugly razors shave well too.

The admirals I'm using definitely falls under the heading of "ugly razors that shave well." I really like the grind, but cosmetically, it's ugly.

What's stopping me with the fredrick reynolds is that it needs major honing, and I think it really deserves a resto, so I'd prefer to do it all at once. Doing it out of order is why I haven't restored the admirals. I bought it shave ready, and on the good advice here, I decided I'd wait on the resto until it needed edge work.

Upon rereading this thread I agree with mparker, go with the Fredrick Reynolds next.

mparker...good catch.:)